The Shattered Ring

In the service of the Conference of Worlds

The Heavenly Forge

The Hall of The Heavenly Forge, though tiny and militarily weak, holds a seat amongst the Hundred Halls of Heorot. This is entirely thanks to the phenomenal craftsmanship of the Hall’s artisans, who number fewer than fifty and produce less work in a year than a workshop of half their number in other halls. The work of The Heavenly Forge is legendary in quality and beauty, and seldom changes hands for less than a small fortune.

The Hall of The Heavenly Forge owes its founding to Master Meredon, who won sponsorship and backing for founding the Hall by the fruits of his own labour, producing a suit of armour of unsurpassed quality and beauty for Lady Garihan, leader of one of the mightiest of The Hundred Halls. Starting out with little more than the loyal staff of his miniscule workshop, Meredon set about building a reputation for his hall. Abandoning the practice of naming the hall after its founder, Meredon chose to name his Hall the Heavenly Forge, and began scouting lesser workshops for talent. From humble origins, Meredon has built his crafthouse into a legend.

It is said that The Heavenly Forge does not make an artifact for an individual, but that individuals are made for its artifacts. It’s certainly true that The Heavenly Forge does not operate on the standard principles of Heorot’s other houses of artisans (to the endless frustration of the Zvitter executives who fear the potentially destabilizing effect that intervention from The Heavenly Forge might have on their trading arrangements and consider the Hall a profound nuisance). To begin with, it does not take commissions for work. The Heavenly Forge makes an item and then offers an individual the chance to buy it, usually for a very specific price that the individual in question is entirely capable (if not willing) to pay. This has led to some unusual exchanges in the past, including the trading of a sumptuous bronze sculpture of birds in flight for two dozen blood oranges from Jardin and of a brilliant crystalline crown for an orphan from Purgatory. Many suspect that the reasons for these bizarre requests are political advantage, or to disguise the Hall’s true goals, but The Heavenly Forge and its people remain inscrutable, and this only further lends to the Hall’s mystique.

The Heavenly Forge produces items of a variety of different types, from weapons and armour to surface vessels and dinnerware. All are of the finest quality – the Hall only appears to trade its finest work, keeping any examples of lesser produce within its walls, either for internal use or disposal – and can fetch enourmous prices from collectors, when they are sold at all. Nonetheless, every item the Hall produces performs its function admirably – no matter how bejeweled and inscribed a blade of the Forge, it cuts more smoothly than any other and will almost never lose its edge.